A Timaru-born musician is preparing to take to the road for her first national tour in May.
Off the back of her performance on the main stage at Electric Avenue, indie-pop artist Caitlin Bradley, who goes by the artist name CAITLIN, will be playing four gigs across the country to promote and celebrate the release of her upcoming EP Guardrails.
The tour is set to start in her hometown of Timaru on May 15 at The Sail and Anchor.
She will then travel to Christchurch to play at the Space Academy on May 16 followed by gigs in Wellington and Auckland on May 21 and 22.
She said she was very excited to be doing her first national tour.
‘‘It’ll definitely be a different experience to playing the main stage at Electric Avenue, but I’m really excited for these shows. They’ll feel more intimate and I’ll be able to really connect with the audience in the room while still bringing that expansive festival kind of vibe.’’
She said she had very much enjoyed her recent outing at Electric Avenue.
‘‘It was just incredible to play on the stage and see lots of people singing my songs and my lyrics back to me. It was pretty cool to see.
‘‘It was such an amazing experience, I felt very welcomed and obviously it was awesome having some fans come along. It definitely felt pretty electric.’’
Bradley said getting to perform her music live was everything to her.
‘‘There’s so many elements of music that I really enjoy, from the songwriting in my bedroom to producing it and creating this sonic world. But I feel like performing the songs that I’ve written and recorded live, allow them to take on a different body and different life.
‘‘I have grown up with my parents playing so much music live and gigging every weekend and I feel there is just something pretty special about creating an experience for people to come be a part of. Live performance has always been at the core for me.’’
Her new EP is set to release on April 10 and is the first project that she had mostly self-produced.
‘‘Most of the songs, apart from the first single, I have produced myself. My good friend and collaborator, Will McGillivray, has supported me with additional production to help me finish the songs and level them up even more.
‘‘The EP is called Guardrails and I feel the songs on it stem from the journey of selfdiscovery you go through during your early to mid-20s. Questioning what you want out of life and trying to figure out your path and what’s holding you back.
‘‘Guardrails can be what’s holding you back and you definitely have to go on a journey to break free of that so you can be more of yourself. The songs cover lots of different experiences that you have across your early twenties.’’
She said musically, the EP sat in the alternative pop sphere but also featured moments where it leant into indie rock or had a more intimate singer songwriter feel.
Tickets for the tour are available now and can be purchased from undertheradar.co.nz.
